fredthebear: Magnus Carlsen became a grandmaster at the age of 13 years and 148 days. He is a chess prodigy that had various GMs for coaches for half his lifetime when this game was played. (FTB has read that Carlsen has a photographic memory like Bobby Fischer had.) Carlsen would have known that a passed rook's pawn with the "wrong colored bishop" is drawn.

In the final position above, White wins easily with a light-squared bishop to flush the Black king out of the light corner square (assuming the White king protects the passed a-pawn from direct capture).

The strange looking 52...Ba5 is a fine drawing move regardless of White's reaction. Carlsen has no reasonable chance to win at that point. If White tries to push the b-pawn up the b-file, the bishop would capture on b6 and the result is a draw.

The passed a-pawns are of no use without a light-squared bishop to check the Black king out of the light-squared corner a8.

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